Final Goodbyes
by Phantom Nini
Summary: When someone Karen loves is ripped from her, she thought she said her final goodbye then.


**Bwahahahahahahaaaa! I'm back! Yeah, y'all haven't heard from me in about a month… I know…. I just had to take a LOOOOOOOONG break from that ToD story! It was getting on my nerves, and to my surprise, I'm STILL getting reviews for it! ^.^ I find that little fact FUNNY!**

**Okay… I got this little idea after watching the season finale episode, so… :) Yeah, I know… a bunch of people already posted a story with a similar plotline, but I don't really care. :P I know you'll love this one! ^.^**

**I don't own the world of South Park, although all the time I dream about owning it… ;)**

* * *

><p><em>I still don't understand why it was meant to be this way,<em> I think to myself as I stare at my yellow, chipped ceiling through blurred vision. _Even though it's been five years, I just don't get it…_

Shifting my blurry vision to my pillow, which is already stained from the multiple years of tears locked underneath the fabric that cover it, I let my continuous stream of tears flow out the corners of my eyes, bringing my hands to my face. _Why?_ I think. _Why'd you have to take him so fucking soon?_

After my tears to calm down, I sit up, wipe the remaining tears from my eyes, inch to my crappy door, put my hand on the knob, and put my ear to the door. I am astounded that I hear no death threats or smashing beer bottles coming from the living room. I check my clock. 9:00 PM. Usually, this is the daily time of my parents brawling over something stupid, usually the case being who gets the bigger cut of the cash they received from withdrawing druggies who need their fix of the "goods."

Slowly turning my doorknob and pushing the door open as quietly as possible, I creep through the living room and listen closely, attempting to hear anything out of the ordinary. After a second, I hear disturbing moaning sounds coming from my parents' room, so I decide to grab my light pink coat that is hanging where _his_ always was and quietly exit the house.

Noticing the temperature difference, I quickly pull my coat over my head and shove my hands in my pockets for warmth. I tilt my head downward, looking at my feet, and I begin to take my nightly stroll around town.

This is exactly what I was doing five years ago whenmy brother was taken from me.

* * *

><p>I was ten at the time, only in the fifth grade. Things at home were outright horrible; my parents kept getting arrested for various things, including drug dealing, too many DUI's, fighting in public, resisting arrest, and all of the other shit that white trash adults attempt to do and get in trouble for it. Anyway, so our parents kept dragging me and my two older brothers, Kenny and Kevin, in on their fights. Kevin, who was eighteen at the time, would always fight with Daddy and get beaten to a pulp by the drunken man, so he would be the first out of the house every night. (Yes, this shit would occur every single fucking night.) That just left me and Kenny, who was fifteen, to try to get away from our parents, which would usually work by Kenny and Daddy throwing punches while Mom was screaming at the madness. And what was I doing the entire time? Creeping towards the door and successfully exiting the hell hole.<p>

One night, March 13th to be exact, the fight that occurred that night was as brutal as normal, so that wasn't the bad part, but it was what happened _after _that still haunts me to this day, especially as I am walking the same path that I did that night…

A few days prior, Kevin had finally dropped out of high school after being in too many fights, and he moved in with one of his friends, who was in some type of mechanic school, so he wasn't involved with the fight that exploded earlier than normal.

Around the time of 8:40 PM or so, Kenny, who had been watching TV with me, decided to go into the kitchen to get a Dr. Pepper, which was coincidently the only drink we had in the house besides beer. (We both hated Dr. Pepper because of that foster home experience in Greenly a few years prior to that night.) Kenny returned with the drink and opened it. He sat down, took a sip of it, and handed it to me.

"Here," he said, "drink some."

I beamed at him, taking the drink and sipped it. After the strange "Agnostic" liquid travelled to my stomach, I handed back the drink and scrunched my face. "Why does that shit have to taste so horrible?"

Kenny set the drink down and gave me a stern face. "Karen, you know how much I hate it when you use that type of language."

I rolled my eyes. "But you say those words all the time!"

"But I'm older than you, Karen." He retorted. "Besides, I don't want you to turn out like me, so don't follow my bad example."

I arched my brow. "What 'bad example'? You don't set a bad example!" I argued, looking Kenny in the eyes.

His face softened. "Well, I appreciate that, Karen," he began as he got up from the couch to stretch, "but trust me. You don't want to be like me."

I stood up beside him, crossing my arms across my chest. "And why not? I think you're the best person ever! You don't pick on me like a lot of other people do, you protect me from our parents, and you're always with me no matter what!"

Kenny smiled half-heartedly, kneeling down to be on my level. "Karen," he whispered softly, almost inaudibly. "You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when you get as old as I am now. You'll most likely done the same stupid things that I've done, but maybe, just maybe, I can keep you from doing them."

"Well…" I began, somewhat confused, "what have you done? If you tell me, I promise not to make the same mistakes that you did."

He chuckled lightly and began popping his knuckles. "It's not that easy, sweetie. You'd have to have a strong sense of ethics to prevent yourself from being like me."

I stomped my foot. "I do have a strong sense of 'ethics'!" I argued, not knowing just what the word "ethics" meant.

Kenny wrapped his arms around me in a close embrace. "I'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

I pulled away from him reluctantly and waited a few seconds before responding. "I'm older now, right?"

Kenny grinned and stood up, ruffling my hair. "Wait a few years. Then we'll talk, okay?"

I glanced at the ground, watching my feet. "Fine…" I muttered.

Kenny ruffled my hair and looked at the time on the clock above the TV. "Really? Only 8:45? I thought it was later than that…"

I tilted my head upwards at the ceiling. Completely oblivious to what was said, I commented, "Only about fifteen minutes left."

Kenny's confused face stared at me in somewhat bewilderment. "Until what?" he inquired, concerned about the matter.

I sighed heavily, deeply wishing that I didn't have to explain what I meant. I turned towards him and looked him in the eyes. "We only have about fifteen minutes left until all hell breaks loose." I glanced around the room, not wanting to see the undoubted look of horror that Kenny was throwing in my direction. I simply glanced at the ceiling once more, not looking anywhere else.

"How do you know?" Kenny questioned, his voice breaking in midsentence, most likely from disbelief.

I swallowed the large amount of saliva that was in my mouth then sighed. "Have you ever bothered to look at a clock?" I asked simply. "Have you ever noticed that Mom and Dad fight at the same time every single night? Why do you think that I always get fidgety after a certain time of night?"

Kenny remained silent, obviously soaking all of this into his brain. "I can't believe—"

"—that I, your baby sister, noticed this?" I finished for him. "I'm shocked that you haven't picked up on anything by this point, and you're supposed to be the smartest one out of us." I finally forced my gaze onto my brother's face.

"Apparently not," Kenny responded, still in a state of shock. "Obviously you're the one with the common sense in the family. If you didn't tell me that, I would've never noticed."

I arched my brow. "Really? You would have at some point, though!"

He shook his head and smiled. "Never."

The corners of my mouth pulled into a tight grin that spread across my face, from ear to ear. "There's only one good thing that comes from these feuds, though."

"And what's that?"

"Well…" I began, debating on whether I should tell him about my secret that I'd only told our foster siblings back a few years ago when we lived with them, but I was sure that he had heard it then, though. "Well… after the fights are over, especially after really big fights, and we're all back in the house, I'm in my bed crying, but that's not the good part."

"I figured," Kenny retorted playfully.

"Shut up!" I smiled bigger than I had a second ago. "Anyways, as I was saying, I'm in my bed crying, and I suddenly hear someone outside my window, opening it. I always hear a gravelly, raspy voice whisper, 'Karen, I'm here.' I look up, and it's someone really special to me."

Kenny raised a brow quizzically. "You mean Santa Claus?"

I slapped his arm. "No! He's not even real!"

"Says you!" he retorted. "I bet you've never seen him!"

"Neither have you, Kenny!"

"Wanna bet?" he asked.

I furrowed my brows. "No! I wanna finish my story!" I cleared my throat. "Anyways, this person is really special because he's my Guardian Angel. He always appears when I'm really sad and makes me feel better. He gives me hope and faith in the fact that everything's going to be okay." I looked at my feet, knowing that my face was slightly pink from sharing my secret. I snapped my head towards Kenny. "Don't tell anyone!" I slightly yelled.

Kenny simply laughed. "Your secret's safe with me." He winked at me and sat back on the couch, dragging me down with him. He began tickling my sides, and I squealed and squirmed in an attempt to get out of his reach and run away like I always did.

Once loose, I ran behind the couch, and what I wasn't expecting was Kenny jumping after me, almost grabbing me again. Laughing at the game that we were playing, I ran into the kitchen, with Kenny right behind me, and when I took a sharp right towards the hallway… WHAM! I ran right into the one person that I didn't want to see at the moment: my father.

Landing on my butt, I scrambled to get out of my father's way, but I wasn't quick enough to avoid his swift kicking.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU RUNNIN' IN THE GODDAMN HOUSE?" the drunken man roared, steadily kicking me as I was scrambling to escape.

Kenny grabbed me and almost threw me out of the way, but he steadied his arms and helped me stand up. He then stepped in front of me, a snarling look on his face. "Don't. You. DARE. Pull. That. Shit. Again," he growled through gritted teeth, and in that moment, he kinda reminded me of my Guardian Angel. He looked at me over his shoulder. "Go outside now, Karen," he ordered, pointing at the front door.

Before I could get out of the kitchen, Mom came running into it, screaming at my father and brother. "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT! STUART, YOU KNOW YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN DRINKIN' TONIGHT!"

The drunk man snapped his head towards his wife. "Shut yer mouth, bitch! I don't wanna put up with yer bitchin' right now!" He stomped towards his wife and began throwing punches at her face, successfully nailing her in the face about ten times. He then began missing, and it was his turn to receive the punches, which were thrown the same way by Mom.

It was that moment that Kenny and I ran for the door, not bothering to grab our coats on the way out.

Once outside, tears began creeping their way to my eyes, but I wouldn't let them trickle down my cheeks. Kenny wrapped his arm around my shoulder and began to rub my upper arm, bringing comfort to me. I leaned against the side of his ribcage and sighed.

"Why do Mom and Dad have to do this?" I asked, my voice cracking. "Why can't they be normal?"

I could feel Kenny's body tense. "I don't know, Karen," he replied softly. "I just don't know."

The two of us walked from our house to the park, where we sat down on a cold bench, trying to not think about what was happening back at the house.

About thirty minutes of silence later, just as we were going to leave, we heard a heavy sigh from behind us. We jumped up and faced the bench, seeing a shadowed figure, who was chuckling.

"Well, well, well," the figured said with a dark voice, "I see that Kenny's a little busy right now; I'll just come play later, that is unless you're not busy after all."

I looked at my brother's face, which was contorted into a face of disgust. "Damien, why don't you just go to Hell where you belong?"

The figure cackled. "My, my! Aren't we a bit feisty tonight!" The figure stepped closer. "Heh… what a _darling _sister you have, Ken. Let me see her better, hmm?"

Kenny pushed me behind him, and I peered around him. "You're not getting your hands on this girl, you devil! She's off limits!" Kenny growled.

Damien stepped even closer, so I could now see his face. "Aw, but that's no fun." Damien thought a moment, then a evil smile crept across his lips. "Since tonight _is_ a Friday, _and_ it's the 13th, so that means it's Friday the 13th. Do you know why that so significant to me at this moment?"

"Does it look like I fucking care?" Kenny growled, widening his stance.

Damien chortled. "It means before I go back home, the wonderful place that's not on Earth called _Hell_, I must take a destined soul with me." The mysterious teen stepped closer. "In other words, I want the girl, Kenny."

"No! I won't let you have her!"

"Ah," Damien sighed and stroked his chin. After a moment, he spoke. "Then give me _your_ soul."

Kenny grew quiet. "Fine. Take me to Hell," he replied sternly, his voice reminding me of my Guardian Angel.

"NO!" I screamed, hugging Kenny tightly from behind. "I won't let you go!"

Kenny loosened my grip and turned to face me. He kneeled down and took my hand and put it on my heart. "Karen, I'll always be with you in your heart. Just think of me, and I'll speak to you." He wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. My head buried in his chest, my eyes pouring tears, soaking his shirt. I felt him tense, and he pried me loose, looking me square in my brown eyes with his aqua blue ones. "Look," he said, his voice cracking, "I'll never leave you. Ever. I never have, and I never will."

A tear rolled down his cheek and onto the dirt beneath us.

"Now, you be a good girl for me, okay?" he asked, stroking my hair. "I will always love you."

I wrapped my arms around him and choked out between sobs, "I'll always love you too, Kenny."

After a moment of silence, Kenny gently pried me off him, kissed the top of my head, and stood up. He walked to Damien, whispered something in his ear, received a nod from the devil who was taking my brother away, and turned to me. "Karen, the next time you see your Guardian Angel," he began, swallowing a lump in his throat, "tell him that I said to keep both eyes and ears out for you."

I nodded, but couldn't speak.

Damien turned to Kenny. "Ready for Hell?"

"Yeah."

"Alright!" He snapped his fingers, and the two of them began disappearing, fading away slowly.

All the time in the world stopped right then and there, not allowing me to move an inch. I could feel my heart being ripped out of my chest and being split in half as I watched Kenny slowly disappearing into the darkness, never to see his beaming face again. All of the fun times that the both of us shared together came flooding back to me, overwhelming me, causing me to fall to my knees as I watched Kenny completely fade away, leaving me completely alone in the dark park.

"Kenny…" I whispered to myself as I looked around the complete stillness of the night.

After a few seconds, I stood up, and shuffled my feet slowly back to the house, where beer cans and bottles were everywhere, but my parents were nowhere in sight. I shuffled to my room and sat on my bed; not a single tear dropped from my eyes. And that was when I heard the best sound at the moment.

"Karen, I'm here."

I whipped my head behind me, and I saw my Guardian Angel in his navy blue cape on my windowsill. His stature was almost exactly like Kenny's, the only difference was this angel was squatting. Kenny only kneeled down; he never _ever_ squatted down. Besides, a lot of Kenny's friends had the same exact stature.

"Guardian Angel," I whispered. "You're back."

The hooded mystery nodded. "Yes, I am." He pulled his legs out in front of him, dangling them inside my room, but he never slid in or anything as such. He just sat there, looking at me.

I then knew that he was going to be there a while. I looked down at my sheets on my bed, straightening a spot out with my hand.

"What's wrong?" the gravelly voice asked, concerned.

"Well," I began, feeling the waterworks coming, "I lost the one person on Earth that meant the most to me, my brother, Kenny. Some stupid boy took him to Hell, and now I'll never be able to see him ever again." A tear rolled down my cheek and onto my lap.

"And what makes you say that?" my angel asked, as if I were missing something completely. "How do you know that you will never see him again?"

"He went to Hell!" I argued, tears sliding down my face, plopping on the sheets. "What? Are you saying that might go to Hell?"

The angel cleared his throat. "The only way that will happen is if you follow the same path that he did. I've watched over your family for a long time, Karen, and I can say for sure that you're the only one who is still pure enough to pass on to the Gates of Paradise. Do you understand?" He brought his hands together and popped his knuckles.

I slightly smiled through my tears. "Hey, that's what Kenny did when either the conversations would have awkward silences or he was about to talk. He would always pop his knuckles…"

"Yeah?" My angel asked, an obvious smirk on his face. "That's something I've never noticed about your brother."

"But now I'll never see him again, never be able to hear his voice when I'm sad, never be able to hug him or feel his fingers through my hair."

"Well, just look at it this way," my angel began, "he apparently sacrificed his life for you to continue yours. Isn't that the best gift an older brother could give his sister?"

Looking at my angel, I replied, "Yeah, I guess so." I plopped backwards on my bed and sighed. Suddenly, I remembered the last words Kenny said to me. I bolted upright, eyes wide. "Guardian Angel!" I looked at the window, and he was still there.

"Yes?"

"Kenny told me to tell you that you need to keep both eyes and ears out for me. I guess he'll want me to be as safe as possible because he won't be here to protect me himself," I smiled at the thought. "He really was the best brother anyone could ask for, huh?"

My angel cracked a smile. "Yeah, it sounds like you were one lucky little girl." He checked a wristwatch that was on his left wrist, and he resumed his squatting position. "Well, I'd better go. Just remember, no matter what, I'll always be here for you."

I began beaming. "Okay!" I watched as he was about to leap from my window, but I had to stop him. "Wait!"

He turned to me. "Yes, Karen?"

"If you ever see my brother in person for God mission or something, could you tell him something for me?" I asked, unsure of what my angel would exactly say.

My angel tensed slightly. "And what might that be?"

I sat crossed legged on my bed. "C-could you tell him that I love him, and I'll miss him?"

My angel smiled. "I think he already knows." And with that, he leaped from the window, vanishing into the night just like he always did, leaving me in my dark room on my bed.

* * *

><p>Ever since then, whenever I mourn for Kenny's death, my angel is right beside me on my windowsill, but not tonight.<p>

As I remember that entire night, the highlight of my nightly walk is here. I arrive at the scene of Kenny's disappearance, where a light burned area of grass has remained undisturbed for the past five years. I kneel down before the burned area and run my frozen hand across it. _It's still warm._ I think to myself as I hear a sound of snow crunching behind me.

"Karen? Is that you?"

I whip around and see the squatting mysterious hooded angel that has been missing tonight. "You're late," I smirk, stepping closer to my angel.

"Oh, so now I'm expected at a certain time?" he growls playfully.

"Yeah," I reply smugly. "I had a delightful little breakdown at the house, and you never showed."

"You're fifteen now, Karen," my angel begins, "I don't think you're going to need me every time that you mourn. I know the wound in your heart is still fresh, but you need to learn to cope with the pain. That's what Kenny had to do, and that's what you should do too." He stood up and began popping his knuckles.

Arching my brow, I have a curious, random thought. "What do you look like behind your mask?"

Tensing his muscles, my angel gives me what I guess is a confused face, but since I can't actually see his face, I don't know.

"Why the sudden question on my appearance?" he asks, taken aback from the inquiry.

"I don't know. I've always wanted to know what my angel looks like behind the mask he wears. Wouldn't you if you were me?"

Still taken aback, my angel eludes eye contact. "No… not particularly…" He begins to shift his weight awkwardly, and he doesn't look at me at all.

Smirking, I shift my weight to my right leg, cross my arms across my chest, and arch a brow. "So," I begin, observing my angel squirm under the obvious pressure that I've put him under, "you're _not_ going to remove your mask?"

The angel shakes his head. "No. It's against the rules."

"Oh, is it now?" I ask, stepping closer to the angel. I have one little trick up my sleeve to test something. I begin to hum a song that grabs my angel's attention. I then begin to sing the lyrics from the beginning of the song.

_"At times, life is wicked, and I just can't see the light.  
>A silver lining sometimes isn't enough to make some wrongs seem alright.<br>Whatever life brings, I've been through everything, and now I'm on my knees.  
>Oh, but I now I must go on.<br>Although I hurt, I must be strong.  
>because inside I know that many feel this way…"<em>

As I begin to sing through the chorus of the song, I notice my angel is holding his breath. "What's the matter, Guardian Angel?" I ask, my voice slightly higher than normal.

My angel shakes his head. "Nothing," he says through grit teeth. "Nothing at all."

I continue to sing the song, and as I get to the last minute of the song, my plan works. The angel begins to sing the song with me, and I begin beaming. As we sing, I know exactly who this is, and when we stop the song, I squeal. "I knew it!" I dash to where he's standing quickly and wrap my arms around… nothing? I raise my eyebrow in question and begin to glance around. "Angel? Where'd you go?" I look at the snow, and no other prints are here but mine. I look up, and I see my angel without his mask.

I begin waving my final goodbye to my brother, Kenny McCormick.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you kiddies liked that! ^.^<strong>

**BTW, I don't own the song lyrics that are in here. Those belong to one of my favorite bands, Creed.**

**Please review! I'll give you PIE! ;D**


End file.
